MANILA, Philippines – Activists scored another victory against the draconian anti-terror law as a Bulacan court acquitted 34 progressive individuals of their terror charges.

Malolos City Regional Trial Court Branch 12 Presiding Judge Julie Mercurio cleared the activists of their charges in a decision dated Tuesday, September 3, after finding there is no probable cause to continue the trial.

The court said it was convinced that certain crimes under the anti-terror law “may have been” committed, but it is not convinced that a warrant of arrest should be issued and that the trial must proceed.

The cases for alleged violation of section 4(a) and 4(d) of the anti-terror law stemmed from an encounter on October 8, 2023 between alleged rebels and the 84th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army that led to the death of Private First Class Sher Nelson Casayuran.

Among the 34 accused in the cases include:

• Nathanael Santiago, Bayan Muna party-list secretary general
• Anasusa San Gabriel, lay worker of the Bulacan Ecumenical Forum
• Rodrigo Esparago, trade unionist
• Ed Cubello, trade unionist
• Servillano “Jun” Luna, Jr., peasant rights defender
• Rosario Brenda Gonzalez, development worker

The Bulacan court said the evidence submitted by the prosecution was not enough to show that all 34 accused were present and were in “physical or constructive” possession of the weapons used during the armed encounter on October 8, 2023.

There was also not enough evidence to prove that the accused conspired in Casayuran’s shooting, it added.

In the decision, the court also noted that the military, which filed the complaint, failed to establish that the 34 individuals they sued were the same people they encountered on October 8, 2023.

The military did not also specifically identify who among the 34 accused were the 20 people who allegedly fired at them.

“In charging all the thirty-four (34) accused with serious and non-bailable offenses of Violation of Sections 4 (a) and 4 (d) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, the active participation of each accused in the commission of the acts of terrorism… must be clear and supported by competent evidence,” the court explained.

Aside from the anti-terror law charges, soldiers also filed complaints for attempted murder, murder, and section 4 (c)(5) [attacks on civilians] of the domestic law on International Humanitarian Law, but were junked by the prosecution in January.

“This dismissal is not an anomaly but part of a disturbing trend. To our knowledge, at least five anti-terrorism cases have collapsed in court due to the State’s inability to provide sufficient evidence to support their claims. All cases involved perjurious testimonies and false accusations from military elements and/or so-called rebel returnees,” the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said in a statement.

Most, if not all, anti-terror law cases filed were lodged against progressive individuals and were filed by state forces.

Even before the anti-terror law could be passed, progressive groups led the opposition against the measure passed during Rodrigo Duterte’s time as president. Activists feared the law for many reasons, including the arbitrary power of the anti-terror council to designate individuals as terrorists without going to trial, based only on their own determination during proceedings held in secret.

– Rappler.com